PANAJI
“We haven t received anything from the Central Government. We have not sent any proposal or sought permission,” Arlekar said. Earlier today Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi spoke out against her cabinet colleague Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar accusing his ministry for freely granting permission to kill innocent animals. “The Environment Ministry here is writing to every state asking them which animal they want to kill and they will grant permission. In Bengal, they gave permission to kill elephants, in Himachal they gave permission to kill monkeys, in Goa they gave permission to kill peacocks,” said Gandhi. Arlekar denied that any such permission was given. Earlier the Goa government created a storm over comments that peacocks and wild boar should be declared as vermin given that they destroy crops and cause other damage. The comments by Goa s agriculture minister as well as other ministers caused a national uproar especially since the peacock is India s national bird and a protected species under Wildlife Protection Act. “In Chandrapur where the condition is so adverse that they have already killed 53 wild boars and permission to kill 50 more has been given. Environment Ministries own wildlife department said that they don t want to kill animals and should not be pressurised for the same. I don t understand this lust for killing,” Maneka added.
